The Controversial PETA Campaign

This is my third PETA campaign, and I wanted to make sure it showed a more comedic side to a very strong message. But I also wanted to make sure it was still controversial like my last campaign, because without controversy you don't get the same impact in getting your message heard.

As a human being, it kills me to even think I need to be a voice for these defenseless animals, because I could never support anything that tortures animals. It’s sad that I even have to be part of this to try to get people to realize that buying fur is murder. These animals get skinned alive in fur farms where often they get beaten alive, drowned, and are kept in tiny cages where they die after going crazy from being confined their whole life in small spaces. I love PETA because they do the hard work and go undercover and launch videos of the horrific abuse that happens to animals around the world, from fur farms to laboratories that test on animals for cosmetics. Everyone should go and see these videos and open their hearts to how much these poor animals suffer. There is no reason for these kinds of barbaric murders: www.peta.org or www.furisdead.com.

Someone that wears a fur coat in 2012 is a person that needs to prove that they have status, because they are insecure and think wearing a fur coat makes them stand out. But in reality it makes them look arrogant, because we are not living in the Stone Age anymore. I will fight until the day I die to be a voice for these amazing creatures.

The reason I decided to do a protest against the Kardashian store was because Khloe Kardashian did an anti-fur campaign years ago, and I found out they were selling fur at Dash. To me, someone like that is a hypocrite and I wanted to make sure they were exposed. Even during and after the protest, they made a statement they never sold fur. Well here is the proof.

Since then I am happy to say Dash in Calabasas closed and they reopened in West Hollywood, which is now fur free. To make it clear, I have nothing against the Kardashians, but I will always speak my mind when it comes to protecting animals. It’s not a direct attack against them. I am very passionate about helping the voiceless and defenseless and will never give that up. I will always fight to try to open people’s eyes to the cruelties out there and hope to change one person at a time. If someone can watch the fur videos of these animals get skinned alive and still purchase a fur coat, then to me they are not humans. I believe karma will get each and every one of them for hurting God’s creatures. I am against any type of cruelty to animals. Amen!

Quotes from Gandhi:

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.

I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.I feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.

I do not regard flesh-food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live. I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species.

Here are some facts about animal cruelty that I want to share with all of you. Basic Cruelty Facts

Wearing fur supports such severe cruelty to animals that everyone involved would be jailed on felony cruelty-to-animals charges if dogs or cats in the United States were abused as hideously as animals that are typically killed for their fur.

Most people realize that it is no more acceptable to skin minks or foxes alive and wear their fur than it would be to skin dogs or cats alive for their fur.

A huge percentage of fur is imported from China, where dog and cat fur is often mislabeled as fur from other species. So that fur collar on your coat might be dog or cat fur from China, where animals are routinely skinned alive.

An investigation into the Chinese fur trade, which people can view at FurIsDead.com, shows that Chinese fur farmers slam terrified animals, including raccoon pups, on the ground, beat animals, and skin them while they’re still conscious. Much of this fur is sold in the U.S. and Europe.

Every year, millions of animals are drowned, beaten to death, strangled, gassed, electrocuted, and even skinned alive in order to produce fur coats, collars, and cuffs.

Fur farmers confine animals to filthy wire cages, often without giving them access to basic necessities like clean water. If animals in cages die, their terrified and often-starving cagemates may eat their bodies in a desperate attempt to stay alive.

Animals on fur farms are suffocated, poisoned, gassed, and anally or vaginally electrocuted. They writhe in excruciating pain before dying. Many often “wake up” while their skin is being ripped off their bodies. Video footage at FurIsDead.com shows a completely skinned fox that is still alive and blinking at the camera.

Animals trapped in the wild may suffer for days in steel-jaw traps. Mothers desperate to return to their young will often chew or twist off their own legs in order to free themselves. Those who can’t get free suffer for days without any food or water before trappers return and strangle, stomp, or bludgeon them to death.

No federal laws protect animals on fur farms.Alternatives to Fur

Animals are simply not ours to wear.

In the 21st century, people can choose to be cruel or kind. With so many fashionable, comfortable, and warm options available today, there is no excuse for wearing bits and pieces of any animal’s fur or skin.

There’s a reason why people don’t climb mountains or go skiing in fur coats. The synthetics available today are much lighter, and they’re far more durable and practical.

Fashion and the State of the Fur Industry

Fur has fallen out of favor. Top designers like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Stella McCartney and retailers like J.Crew and Forever 21 now refuse to use or sell any fur products.

Since most people are smart enough to know that animals killed for their fur are horribly abused, the fur industry often has to pay celebrities to wear its products in commercials and music videos. Desperate designers also resort to dying fur trim colors like pink and purple in order to trick people into thinking that it’s fake.

Heartless designers like Michael Kors and Donatella Versace -- who continue to use abused animals in their so-called designs -- are a dying breed. Young consumers are the future and are largely opposed to the cruelty of fur. A recent survey in Elle Girl revealed that teens think that animal rights is the “coolest” political cause.

Reports from the fur industry show sluggish sales, which result in huge surplus stocks after the fall and winter as a result of a constantly decreasing demand.According to a recent Gallup poll, 96 percent of Americans oppose cruelty to animals, and it shows in Americans’ decision to shun fur.

If fur is becoming more prevalent, it’s because the market is being flooded by cheap imports from China, now that their industry is booming and trade restrictions had been lifted.

The fur trade is a violent, bloody industry. Trapping, beating, drowning, and ripping animals' skins from their backs simply for vanity is absolutely indefensible.

There is no beauty in animal cruelty.

Fur is only worn by a very visible cult of pretentious fashion editors, but for the general public, fur remains about as popular as a cold sore.

Fur Farm Case

There is video footage documenting cruel industry practices captured on fur farms all over the United States. What they’ve found, across the board, is that animals raised for their fur are kept in tiny, filthy cages for months or even years before they are killed, where they often go insane from deprivation. Many of the animals are electrocuted by inserting a rod into the rectum and with the flip of a switch, 240 volts literally burn the insides of the animals. The animal convulses, shakes, and often cries before dying of heart attack.

Environmental Concerns

It takes more than 15 times the energy to produce a farmed-fur coat than a synthetic-fur coat, and the chemicals used to prevent animals’ flesh from rotting after it is turned into a coat or trim are highly toxic and carcinogenic.

The fixatives and other chemicals used to treat animal skins are highly toxic and carcinogenic.

Hoping to Move Forward with Lea

For me the reunion is a forum to hash things out and engage in verbal mud wrestling and hopefully come out cleansed from the tension and disagreements. I would like to make it clear that I do not hate anyone; I am not a person that likes to live in anger as it only makes you miserable and takes away from the precious moments of our lives. It is no secret that I have spent a couple of years being accused of lying by Lea when we do not see eye to eye on something. It is very frustrating to have issues with someone and always end up at the same place of “her word against mine.”

Unfortunately, my father this year has also had a rapid decline in his health and has spent the better part of the past few months in and out of the hospital. While dad was in the hospital with nothing else to do besides sleep, read, and watch TV he watched every episode of RHOM. He was very upset when he saw Lea saying I was lying when I said she didn’t call, write, or send flowers to mom for 8 weeks. He called me and said to figure out a way to video tape me and put it on that show of yours because I’ve had enough of the lies. My father was by mother’s side every day from the moment she went into the hospital to the day she came home (2 months later). He saw everyone who passed by, saw every flower and card that was sent etc. I truly was uncomfortable videotaping him in a hospital setting, but I was leaving for the reunion and he called relentlessly several times a day insisting I let him speak his mind for the cameras. If you thought Mama Elsa was tough, guess who she learned it from, that’s right, her husband of 52 years, Donald Patton. You never met anyone more ornery, stubborn, or tough, but I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

I have said my peace, which is what I went to the reunion to do. I have moved forward and forgive those who have hurt me and I forgive myself for those I may have hurt. I truly want to move forward to a better place with Lea to the best of our ability. We may never be best friends, but I’d like to think we can at least be in the same room, be cordial, and maybe even share a laugh someday.

It has been a fun season with the ladies and it provided a great distraction from the personal emotional struggles I was going through with my parents’ declining health. I hope you enjoyed the season, thank you for all of your support and best wishes for my mother as that has been the greatest gift the show has brought us.